BY AYO OLESIN
The demography of this country supports you so greatly, you need to come out the more, you need to obviously proffer solutions; you need to stand up.
These were the words of admonition that came from the revered Yoruba monarch, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife to Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, during a recent ceremony held in Lokoja to mark the governor’s 46th birthday.
If anyone was wondering what the Ooni was talking about, it was about Bello’s presidential ambition, which has attracted quite a bit of interest within the polity.
What is clear is that the Ooni himself appears to be on the same page with Governor Bello, himself being 46 years old as well. The monarch who has become a vocal advocate for youth empowerment and increased participation in governance and nation building obviously sees that connection, hence his charge to Bello. In effect, the governor is being told to stand up and be counted when it matters, as the nation approaches another transition of power amid serious misgivings about the general state of things marked by insecurity, ethnic tensions, struggling economy, high youth unemployment and resultant evils.
Not that Yahaya Bello needs much prompting once his mind is made up, but the signs are becoming increasingly obvious that for Nigeria to make any marked departure from her difficult past and present circumstances, some fresh thinking, indeed a new approach, is required to solve many of the challenges of our still sharply divided polity.
Bello is apparently conscious of the need to address the widening gulf between the components of the Nigerian state and draws examples from his administration’s non-discriminatory approach to governance in Kogi State, which effectively ended the mutual hatred and strife that marked the relationships between the Okun, Igala and Ebira peoples before he came into office.
“We in Kogi look at everyone as a Nigerian first before we talk about where you come from or even your religion. Though tongues may differ, but we are one. In Kogi, we don’t emphasise on what divides us but we emphasise more on what unites us. I want each and every one of us to continue to preach peace, unity and togetherness,” he told Governor Okezie Ikpeazu during his recent visit to Abia State, ostensibly against the backdrop of pro-Biafra agitations in the South East.
However, if there is any grouping in Nigeria that shares common aspirations today, it is the young people for whom a future might not exist if they are not properly represented in the decision-making process even though many have made strong showing in the area of entrepreneurship, tech and entertainment.
Obviously, they still require a clear strategic agenda from the Government’s side to make their aspirations a reality and many will argue that this can be achieved more easily through the emergence of strong leaders from within their ranks. However, the barriers need to be broken first, especially if they can draw inspiration from young persons like Bello who have defied the odds to attain high office.
Indeed, the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, speaking at the same occasion, pointed out that the future of leadership in Nigeria belonged to the youth, noting that Bello and Abdulrasheed Bawa, 40, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, for example, had represented their generation “very very well”.
From the perspective of some prominent and not so prominent Kogi indigenes, Bello has shown that young leaders can rise above age-old prejudices and galvanise the needed consensus among stakeholders to enable government deliver on its mandate.
Senator Yakubu Oseni, representing Kogi Central, says that Bello has a knack for identifying potential in people and unveiling them to the world, an attribute shared with the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for which the latter has been well praised.
Kogi APC Chairman, Abdullahi Bello, said the governor had demonstrated “an extraordinary capacity to get things done” while to Hajiya Maryam Ahmed, former Chairperson, Adavi Local Government, Bello is God sent and has made changes in terms of development. “He has been carrying everybody along,” she said.
Even popular comedian Gbenga Adeyinka acknowledges that Bello has given the youth a face in governance and serves as inspiration to that demographic.
Beyond that, Bello, a successful entrepreneur himself before his dramatic entry into the political space, has demonstrated a commitment to youth entrepreneurship as a way of resolving not just the unemployment conundrum but creating new businesses that would be the backbone of future economic growth with the needed input from political leadership.
For example, he has revamped facilities for business education in Kogi’s tertiary institutions with a focus on the advancement of modern technological knowledge with a vocational application, including business.
In December last year, the governor founded the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), a world class STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) complex in Osara.
Kogi has also partnered with the Dangote Foundation/VDMA Centre for Vocational Studies for some of the best training and internship opportunities in engineering, technology and business in the country, as well as the South Korean Government sponsored Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute of Vocational and Advanced Technology (NKFI), which is renowned for innovative and cutting-edge interventions as a development partner located at the Kogi State Polytechnic.
As the race for 2023 gathers steam, Bello’s candidacy is seeming more of a reality than a pipedream as some have labelled it. He has been methodical in his approach, hosting several youth role models, including Super Eagles stars, and interestingly, some youths from the Niger Delta have insisted that Bello fits very well with the description of the kind of President that Nigeria needs come 2023.
“Generation change must happen in the next election. We support and vote for any man that is not above the age of 50 come 2023,” they declared during a recent visit to the governor.
Still, with all the accolades and endorsements, Bello knows that the 2023 road to Aso Villa is no cakewalk and how far he goes will be another test of his political, leadership and consensus building skills.
Ayo Olesin is the CEO of Newsmatrix.
